vegetarian ≠ healthy

When are meat-eating earthlings going to get it in their heads that the word 'vegetarian' and 'healthy' are, in fact, not synonymous? When I tell others that I am vegetarian, I later receive comments that go along the lines of, 'I guess you wouldn't want this (bag of chips/brownie/ice-cream/junkfood of choice) seeing as you're so healthy'.

Uh, excuse me? Let's get it clear now shall we? We homo sapiens get fat because of excess fat and sugar. Now being vegetarian does not equate to low-fat or low-carb. Hell, I even know a friend who is vegetarian and does not like eating vegetables (unless it's in carrot cake). See the pumpkin whoopie pie pictured above? It's sugary, it's fatty and it's not "good" for you (but oh so good), and oh, it's vegetarian. I can eat six of these and consume 1680 kcals and still be as vegetarian as ever. Yippee.

Raw Carrot Cake

There is no part of me that wants to adopt a raw diet (I love my baked sweets too much), but I do occasionally splurge on raw products, though mostly out of curiousity. I say 'splurge', because ironically, ready-made raw foods are often outrageously expensive. As if it's not ridiculous enough that living veggie in the 21st century is more costly than eating meat, eating 'raw' serves even further damage to your wallet. Take for example this raw carrot cake by Ms. Lillian of Raw Soul. At Westerly market, a slice is sold for over $8. But what the hell I wanted to try it.
Now if anyone is grossed out by the idea of a raw cake, think again. Do you not like eating cake batter out of the mixing bowl? Or cookie dough ice cream? Eating this is like having an entire slice worth of carrot cake batter without the guilt or worry of getting salmonella, complete with frosting. Sound good? Well it was. So much so that I am now determined to make my own raw cakes to devour without having to dish out 8 odd bucks a slice.

Bonobo's

First blog post in... whoops, over a year. Now living in New York City!

Bonobo's is a raw vegan food establishment on 23rd street. It appears the chief offering here is salads, but what sets them apart from all the other 'create-your-own' salad bars in manhattan are such toppings as the 'nutmeat pastes' that come in a variety of flavors. These same pastes feature in their nori rolls as a substitute for rice, and you choose 5 ingredients from the salad bar as fillings. Above is a picture of my roll made with pumpkin poppy paste, carrots, zucchini, beets, tomatoes and sprouts. The nutmeat paste is pretty salty, so even though they provide you with a dressing (again, of your choice) on the side, I think the rolls are flavorful on its own. The taste was decent - kind of like eating a hummus and crunchy salad wrap. It was surprisingly filling too, I'm assuming from all the grounded nuts.

While my nori rolls were being made, I noticed that they use coconut water as a base for their blitzed beverages. Looking at online reviews it seems the 'coconut chai' is their most popular drink, though personally, I found it to be way too sweet. Other foods worth noting on the menu are their durian smoothies, frozen "pudding" desserts that come in flavors like cinnamon banana, and a bunch of '-du jour' items like pie du jour, nut milk du jour etc.

chocolate and bacon

Over the last few months, I'd spotted this combination on various blogs. Chocolate and bacon. Sounds a bit odd? But then you remember that bacon and maple syrup is a match made in heaven, and then it doesn't seem so bad. Anyways, I've been wanting to try the two together, but as I have been much too busy lately to be baking cookies or cakes and what nots, had yet to give it a go. A very thoughtful friend of mine however, got me one of these when she spotted it in a local deli. A 'Zotter' dark chocolate bar filled with coffee, plums, bacon and chocolate cream. Wow. I was so excited that I opened the wrapper and dug straight in. The first thing to hit you is the cardamom and chocolate liquor that's part of the ingredients. I could not taste any bacon. But then, as you nibble onto another piece, and yet another, slowly you begin to notice something caramelly yet distinctly meaty in it, almost like a bakkwa. There is no mistaking it; it's bacon. And it's dangerously addictive...

Asian at heart

Despite being Asian, and growing up on (mostly) home-cooked food, I rarely have cravings for Japanese or Chinese cooking like so many others that I know. Perhaps it's because the majority of modern Japanese home cuisines can hardly be called Japanese at all. Gratins, hamburgers, cutlets and curries, most of the dishes are simply Japanified Western favourites. Or perhaps it's because of the years I spent in a French school with an excellent canteen. Anyways, the point is that I usually don't go out hankering for a taste of the Orient, and in any case, I'm probably doing myself a favour by avoiding the mostly unauthentic joints around town. Funny thing is though, it is only at times when I am terribly ill, moaning and groaning for help, so weak in the stomach that I can barely stand a sip of water, that I suddenly yearn for some Japanese-style congee, or a bowl of Chinese noodle soup, which is precisely what happened when I was seriously ill this week. My stomach would accept neither soup nor bread, but I somehow managed to drag myself to the Chinese supermarket where I bought a bagful of instant noodles. Me, who has for years frowned upon instant nooodles, who has not touched the stuff for at least 6-7 years, who has considered it to be on the same level as McD's, was brought down to boiling a kettle and pouring it over a bowl of powdered crap. I have to say though, it kind of saved my life. For the first time in days I was able to eat without discomfort. All the oil and msg's floating around in the soup has worked wonders. I now hail instant noodles. It really is quite scary how deeply rooted one's upbringing is.

Egg in Bagel

I know, this is a fantastically unattractive photo. But you know, sometimes you're just too hungry to care. I wanted to make one of those 'hole in toast' aka 'bullseye toast' aka 'egg in the basket' etc thing, but using a bagel instead (It even appears in V for Vendetta). As it happens, the hole was too small and the egg went everywhere, which, I honestly think worked out for the better as it made the bagel nice and moist. The green bits sitting on the side is shaved raw brussel sprouts. Over the weekend, I read a comment by Nigel Slater on the Observer magazine that brussel sprouts eaten raw in a salad was perfectly acceptable, so I tried. It makes it taste like plain cabbage. Honestly, the bitterness of brussel sprouts just magically disappeared. In fact, I missed the bitterness. Shame.

ice-cream on the rise

The price, that is. Yet I must admit it's because they're made by the increasing number of fussy ice-cream makers, and many (though not all) do create rather gorgeous ice-creams, but it does come at a price. Previously, I moaned about the price of the Booja-Booja Stuff in a Tub being too expensive. That was about £5.49 a tub I think. Now I've come across one that tops it up. The Christmas pudding ice-cream by September Organic Dairy, whose regular line of ice-creams are sold at about £4.99 at Fresh and Wild, was £6.99. Am I a scrooge to be complaining? Worse still, am I an idiot to have bought it anyway? It was, after all, the last left tub in the freezer, and seeing as this is probably going to be the last festive season for me in the UK, after much dwindling and dawdling around the frozen food section, I gave in. And man, do I not regret it.






















It comes in an adorable christmas pudding shaped container.